Musings in the life of an internist, cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Duly Notified

Warning: You are entering the chart of a deceased person

What?

What happened? They called me about him. Said he was sick. He stared again at the message.

Warning: You are entering the chart of a deceased person

Should I open the chart? (Screw it - I need to find out what happened!)

But what if I do? (I'm not trying the alter the chart. Really. It's not my fault no one called me to tell me he died, is it?)

Warning: You are entering the chart of a deceased person

Why didn't they call me? I'd been caring for him for nearly ten years! I knew his story, his family, his wonderful personality. The ER said he looked sick and they were going to admit him.... Then someone called ... Didn't think he needed to be in the ICU... Who was that again?

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Court Record will show:"Doctor did you enter the chart because you felt guilty for not finding the aneurysm? You did know that the EMR records every entry to the chart. The EMR also shows that you only spent .2sec reviewing the interactions of Mr. Smith's coumadin and aspirin. Doctor, were you not concerned about this bleeding risk?"

About Me

Westby G. Fisher, MD, FACC is a board certified internist, cardiologist, and cardiac electrophysiologist (doctor specializing in heart rhythm disorders) practicing at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, IL, USA and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. He entered the blog-o-sphere in November, 2005.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly the those of the author(s) and should not be construed as the opinion(s) or policy(ies) of NorthShore University HealthSystem, nor recommendations for your care or anyone else's. Please seek professional guidance instead.